A senior security commander in Mahmoud Abbas' Palestinian Authority admitted in remarks to The Jerusalem Post to harboring and paying wanted Islamic Jihad terrorists.
Col. Radi Assidah said that a number of terrorists being hunted by Israel had sought shelter in his headquarters in the northern Samaria town of Jenin some five months ago.
Assidah said the terrorists are being hosted as guests, and not prisoners, and that they are even being paid monthly salaries by the government of "moderate" Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayad.
The revelation came as a response to accusations by Hamas leaders in Gaza that the PA was helping Israel round up Islamic militants in Judea and Samaria.
The Palestinian Authority is obligated under the terms of its peace agreements with Israel to combat terrorism against the Jewish state, but for more than a decade has done just the opposite.